Feeding Time
by stardust1173
Summary: Neji's having a bit of trouble and Jen offers him help. Can he get over his pride and what is Kiba talking about? Side pairing Kiba/Hina.


_This is a story from last year that I just found in an old notebook. I wrote it in my homeroom class cause I didn't having else to do and I was talking with Todo how I could eat with both hands and annoyed my parents by switching back and forth during dinner. I hope you enjoy. Jen and Neji are not actually togeather in this story but Kiba and Hinata are._

Feeding Time

"Damn it…" Scowling lips mumbled as the soggy noodles slid out of the chopsticks yet again and slopped back into the bowl. Neji fidgeted and attempted to recapture his food while holding his chopsticks in the wrong hand, his other arm being immobile after breaking it on a mission last week. Ever since then eating had been difficult and today was no exception.

"Are you okay Neji?" Jen asked, having just taken the seat next to her wounded comrade in the famous ramen shop.

"I'm fine." He answers quickly and growls a second later as he drops a chopstick.

"Need some help?" Jen inquires while snapping her own chopsticks apart, green eyes held definite pity.

"No." His reply was just as sharp as before and she sighed at his stubbornness.

"Are you sure?" She persisted despite his harsh tine and cold demeanor. Becoming even more flustered, Neji dropped his chopsticks and sat back, turning his full attention to the curly haired girl and giving her his hardest glare.

"Will you stop distracting me so I can finish this?"

"Sorry, I didn't know the table was that hungry." Jen retaliates with sarcasm but he ignores her and returns to his mess in silence. With a huff Jen jabs her chopsticks into her bowl and shoves the noodles into her mouth.

After a harsh swallow she looks again at the dark haired male struggling with thin wooden sticks next to her. He had just dropped another glob of food onto the counter.

Neji quickly turned his attention back to the girl he was trying to ignore when she pulled his ramen bowl towards her and broke a new set of chopsticks. "You're ridiculous." She sighed, hoping it might make him feel more inclined to let her feed him. It seemed to work as she held up the dripping strands. He slurped them awkwardly but managed not to drop any.

'Well I guess this isn't so bad…' He thought critically but couldn't help take a second glance at the kind girl next to him. He wondered why she would do something like this for him. It wasn't like he had ever been particularly nice to her, almost none of his action could be considered _nice_ really.

"Neji." She whispered and snapped him from his thoughts. He opened his mouth instantly and took note Jen had actually twisted the noodles around the chopsticks to make it easier for him this time.

'I wish she wouldn't do that. It makes me feel…' He swallowed and looked at her from the corner of his eye. She was carefully rotating the thin strips while her own food sat forgotten at her far elbow. Guilt? Since when did Hyuuga Neji start having this emotion? 'It's her fault, this is completely unnecessary…' A faint tinge in his stomach silenced his thoughts. Truthfully he had purposely been skipping meals because he had been struggling with this so much, so her actions weren't actually unnecessary.

"Jen…"

"Hm?" She made a sound to show she was listening as she continued with her tedious task.

"Why are you doing this?" By just releasing those words he felt a easing as if he had let out a breath after holding it too long.

"It's sad to watch you struggle with something so trivial as eating." She shrugs holding the wrapped noodles up to his mouth but he doesn't take them.

"What do you care?" His voice readopts its rough tone.

Jen blinks and lowers her hand a few inches. "But…I do care." She states simply, unknowingly surprising the light eyed male. He really didn't know how to react to this, it wasn't like people said things like that to him very often. Jen did however notice that his mouth was slightly opened and forced him unintentionally. He coughs sharply from the sudden forceful intake of food and she jumps back nervously. "Sorry." She says quickly, dropping the chopsticks as if they were venomous and waiting until Neji stopped choking. "I'm really sorry." She repeats as he calms down but Neji dismisses her apology.

"I'm fine. It's nothing." He assures and notices her looking at him oddly. "What?" He finally asks flatly.

"You got a little…" Jen grabs a napkin and proceeds to wipe off his face tenderly. Neji froze from the sudden gesture, unable to say anything as she leaned closer to make sure she got it all off.

"Wow, I wish Hinata would feed me like that when I was injured." Kiba comments and both turn to the dog boy with persistent blushes.

Flustered, Jen was unable to say anything but Neji was not so incapable with words. "Get lost before I neuter you."

"Jeez alright!" Kiba starts to walk away while saying, "Who'd a thought you'd be such a defensive boyfriend…"

The pair sat frozen until the dog boy was out of sight. Jen was the first to speak. "O…kay…" She blinks and starts wiping down the counter as Neji got up to leave. He took only a few steps when Jen spoke again. "See you tomorrow?" He glanced back at her smiling face. "Same time, same place."

Neji paused, his mind working out the pros and cons of meeting with her again but suddenly he didn't care. "See you tomorrow Jen." He replied and proceeded home.


End file.
